The Reporter's Notebook

Two neighboring restaurants are waging a war of words in Inman Square.

While Jae's Cafe's awning claims "Eat at Jae's, live forever," a sign outside the East Coast Grill (formerly called the Dixie BBQ), proclaims "Eat BBQ here and die happy."

A waitress at Jae's says she thought their sign had gone up first; it went up when the restaurant first opened, around five years ago.

Customers comment on the sign "all the time," she says. "People ask, `Is that a guarantee?' and stuff like that."

While employees of the restaurants offer no guarantees regarding the truth of their signs--one Jae's employee says a 90-year old customer had died while eating at her restaurant--the signs do seem to capture in stark terms the trade-off between health and happiness.

Still, both restaurants show signs of brisk business, suggesting that, in Cambridge, at least, there is room for both health and happiness on the same block.

Jae's Cafe is a Pan-Asian restaurant with a focus on sushi, and East Coast Grill serves up heaping portions of primarily fried and barbequed fish and meat.

Though the restaurants seem to have similarly hip atmospheres and a similarly young but upscale clientele, they've managed to distinguish themselves from each other quite clearly.

Both restaurants are located on Cambridge Street and can be reached by taking 69 bus.